Bill on school violence and bullying passes in Parliament

Greek parliament has ratified an Education Ministry bill on dealing with and preventing bullying and other forms of violence at schools.

The bill was approved in a plenary session on Wednesday, with ruling New Democracy and center-left PASOK-KINAL voting in favor. Communist KKE and radical leftist MeRA25 voted against the legislation, while Nationalist Greece Solution voted present. The main opposition SYRIZA, which is abstaining from parliamentary votes, had declared its opposition to the bill.

“This legislative initiative is another shot fired in the battle against silence. Our goal is to give a voice to children who are confronted with bullying and domestic violence, to empower the school community by adding new weapons to our quiver against these phenomena, to strengthen our teachers and our staff who play a key role,” said Education Minister Niki Kerameus.

She stressed that the problem “does not only concern the victim and the perpetrator, it concerns the family, it concerns society.”

For their part, the opposition parties accused the leadership of the Education Ministry of overriding the proper authorities and not having any meaningful consultation with them, while describing the bill as “superficial, incomplete and ineffective, without any provision for the prevention of the phenomenon.”